Data traffic in mobile telecommunications networks is continually increasing. Consequently, operators are employing heterogeneous access networks that utilise multiple radio access technologies (RATs) in order to provide greater capacity, particularly in high traffic areas and areas that otherwise have poor network coverage.
Typically, the radio access technologies utilised as part of these heterogeneous access networks include Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved UTRAN (EUTRAN), and Wi-Fi/WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). In this regard, both the UMTS and LTE standards are defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), whilst the Wi-Fi/WLAN standards are defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). However, one problem that arises when attempting to make use of heterogeneous networks that combine both 3GPP RANs and Wi-Fi RANs/WLANs is that the network operator cannot easily establish how the coverage of the cells of a 3GPP RAN (i.e. provided by a Node B/eNode B) relates to the coverage provided by the Access Points (AP) of a Wi-Fi RAN/WLAN. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a Wi-Fi AP whose coverage area overlaps with a 3GPP cell. In this regard, it is practically impossible to determine and maintain this coverage information manually, as 3GPP cells and Wi-Fi/WLAN APs within these RANs are added and/or changed at a relatively rapid rate. Furthermore, the effort required to manually configure this coverage information into the network management systems would be huge.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a mechanism by which the relationships between the cells of a 3GPP RAN and the coverage area of the APs of a Wi-Fi RAN could be determined automatically. However, the 3GPP and Wi-Fi technologies are part of separate domains that use different management systems, different paradigms, different identities etc., such that there are no mechanisms that allow a 3GPP RAN and a Wi-Fi RAN to associate with one another in this way.